I walked through part of the 160 hectare bamboo forest, hidden in which are three villages with beautiful old houses, whose white-washed walls, black-tiled roofs and gables, are a good place to find delicate brick and woodcarvings.

Over 20 small nunneries nestle in the forest, similar in appearance to the village houses and often close to small plots of paddy, vegetable fields and tea gardens.

Most are home to a nun and her young disciple, who subsist on farming.

The major tourist attraction of Minyuan is a tree named the Phoenix Pine. Reputed to be over 1,400 years old, it is 7.8 metres tall and its trunk one metre in diameter.

I visited three other monasteries near Jiuhua Road in my last afternoon, all of which had something special to offer, be it a beautiful setting, or housing old statues.

Two days, alas, were not enough to enjoy all of the charms of Mt Jiuhua. And there will certainly be a next time for me.

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